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BJP MLA's: The muzzled minority in AAP-dominated assembly

There were, of course, moments of respite for the BJP during this session with Monday being an example when Om Prakash Sharma, the BJP legislator from an East Delhi constituency, spoke about the 'unwarranted price hikes' by power companies which, he said, will effect the masses.

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BJP MLA Om Prakash Sharma being marshalled out after his protest on the first day of the monsoon session of Delhi assembly last week
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On the third day of the ongoing budget session of Delhi assembly, the three BJP MLAs, the only Opposition in the 70-member House, staged a walkout over non-tabling of fourth finance commission recommendations. The irony of this symbolic protest was that no one seemed to have even noticed when the trio left the House, not even the speaker who later began inquiring about the BJP MLAs. It is memories like these that will keep haunting the trio seemingly for the next five years in an assembly where the AAP enjoys a brute majority of 67 seats out of the allotted 70.

There were, of course, moments of respite for the BJP during this session with Monday being an example when Om Prakash Sharma, the BJP legislator from an East Delhi constituency, spoke about the 'unwarranted price hikes' by power companies which, he said, will effect the masses.

"I think all 70 of us share the same view that electricity prices must be curtailed," said Sharma, who looked surprised after noticing the AAP legislators listening to him in silence. But these are passing moments for the BJP for whom, most of the session was a tremulous affair with their MLAs marshalled out twice for interrupting the speeches of either Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal or other AAP legislators. At other instances the BJP MLA's, Jagdish Pradhan who is known to be soft spoken, were barely audible amidst the regular interruption of AAP

When dna asked an on-duty marshall whether the week was a busy one for him, the officer responded,"Kaam toh kam ho gaya hai, uthane hi kitnay log hote hain (workload has reduced. After all, how many (legislators) do we have to pick).

Another Delhi police officer of 1990 batch, and now posted as a marshall in the assembly told dna that the House does not require the standard 20-25 officers on duty to maintain order. " To be honest, six people will do. Plus, the MLAs only resist when they are inside the House when they are out they leave peacefully," he said.

No one was marshalled out on the penultimate day but MLA Vijendra Gupta did earn the wrath of AAP legislators when he asked them to "take lessons from Prime Minister Modi". The BJP for its part does everything to insinuate AAP MLAs. The situation for Gupta on Monday became a little awkward when he asked AAP MLAs "to work properly instead of laughing".

"Have you been sent here by Mr Kejriwal for amusement," thundered Gupta at one point. His outrage was more about the background that preceded the laughter instead of the act itself. Gupta had complained that the room allotted to the BJP, the only opposition party, was too small.

The AAP legislators broke into laughter when one of them, in fact not mockingly, had said, "But why do you need a big room," indicating at the diminished presence of BJP in the House. Gupta responded,"When members of the press come into our room, we have no place to for them".

The speaker ordered that the matter be looked into and BJP hopes that their demands for a larger room will be met. The same, however, cannot be said for other concerns that the BJP would have liked to talk about.

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